by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
The Minnesota State High School League officially added wheelchair events in 2011, with athletes competing in the 800-meter, 1600-meter and shot put. The league later added 100-, 200-, 400- and 3200-meter events, as well as discus.
Thief River Falls eighth grader Clayton Rudi is a pioneer in wheelchair track and field competition for Thief River Falls. He began competing as a seventh grader and qualified for state in both throwing events, placing second in the shot put and third in discus.
Rudi added to his credentials this past weekend, placing in four events and taking home a state championship in the 200-meter dash. Overall, Rudi placed first in the 200-meter dash with a time of 52.38; second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 23.59; second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:44.50 and third in discus with a throw of 54-feet, 9-inches.
Rudi’s throw would have won the 2025 Class AA state title by nearly seven feet.
Unfortunatley, he ran into a stronger field of competition this year, with Devin Filzen of Winona and Aidan Falcon of Austin throwing 67-10 and 61-4 to take first and second, respectively.
“Clayton Rudi competed in all four of his events on Saturday,” said Co-Head Coach Nathan Hruby. “He started with discus, where he saw the biggest PR of the season. He went in seeded with a 44-fot throw and on his final throw he popped off a 54 feet, 9 inches throw, ultimately giving him an official 10-foot PR. The throw was good enough for a third place finish overall.”
Rudi went on to follow that performance up with runner-up finishes in the 100- and 400-meter dashes.
“In the 100, his start was great and he lead the race the first 20-ish meters, but the experience of the other athlete caught him.” Hruby said. “In the 200, Clayton did not wheel a personal best, he did however, win his first State Championship crown. He was so proud, when I met him getting off the track with an ear to ear smile he told me: ‘I am a state champion.’” We are so proud of how great Clayton did this year in all his events as this was the first year he really did more racing in addition to his throwing. We look forward to four more years, more broken records, and more championships for Clayton.”
Also competing at the state meet for the boys track and field team were Joey Bruggeman in the shot put and Curtis Griffin in the 1600-meter run.
“It was awesome to have boys qualify for the state meet,” Hruby said. “It had been a few years since the last boy other than Clayton.”
One week after throwing a personal best 49 feet, 8 inches in the Section 8AA Meet to qualify for state, Bruggeman threw a respectable 48 feet, 8 inches at state to finish 12th.
“Joey competed Friday morning in the shot put,” Hruby said. “He was a part of a really solid field of throwers and he battled only missing finals by a foot. I know he was disappointed and had goals of making finals along with having a crack at the school record. I told him he had nothing to hang his head about as this was only his second season in track and field and he finished at the state meet. He has been a solid leader in the throws area for me and he brought Parker Kasprowicz with him. It made me happy as the experience was all Parker could talk about on the way home and how he wants to now get to that meet as well.”
Like Bruggeman, Griffin ran his personal best at the section meet, winning the event with a time of 4:26.75. He was unable to produce another PR at state and instead finished 17th with a time of 4:42.83.
“Curtis competed in the 1600 on Saturday in a rather stacked field,” Hruby said. “Leading up to the race, he seemed very calm, rather chill, but mostly anxious to run. He had a couple chances Wednesday and Friday to run and practice on the track at STMA. I explained to him to use this time to visualize and get a feel for the track surface. He seemed laser focused going in and was ready to run. Unfortunately, he did not run to what his expectations of himself are ultimately placing 17th overall.
“He was much in the same boat as Joey and wanting to break his school record again along with making it on the podium. He now has a taste of the state meet along with the want to get back there again in some capacity of event(s). His focus now shifts back to cross country where he also excels there. I look forward to next season when he returns as a junior, along with the rest of his distance crew as they are going to be very solid.”
Team Scores
• Class AA Boys Wheelchair – 1. Thief River Falls 29; 2. Austin 11.5; 3. Winona 4.
• Class AA Boys – 1. Mankato East 87.5; 2. Rockford 57; 3. Mahtomedi 47; 3. Minnehaha Academy 47; 5. Pine Island 45; 6. Byron 42; 7. St. Thomas Academy 40; 8. Waseca 38; 9. Minneapolis Southwest 36; 10. Orono 34; 11. Zimmerman 30; 12. Mankato West 26.5; 13. Becker 26; 14. St. Peter 25; 15. St. Paul Como Park 24; 15. Holy Family Catholic 24; 17. Providence Academy 22; 17. Big Lake 22; 17. Cloquet 22; 20. Jordan 21; 21. Perham 20; 21. Belle Plaine 20; 23. Stewartville 19; 24. Kasson-Mantorville 18; 25. Sauk Rapids-Rice 17; 26. New Ulm 15; 27. Blake 14; 27. Fridley 14; 27. Winona 14; 30. Grand Rapids 13; 30. Marshall 13; 32. Chisago Lakes 12; 33. Willmar 11; 33. Worthington 11; 35. Pequot Lakes 10.5; 35. Fairmont 10.5; 37. Albert Lea 10; 37. Dassel-Cokato 10; 37. Robbinsdale Cooper 10; 40. PACT/Legacy 9.5; 41. St. Francis 9; 42. Annandale 8; 42. Austin 8; 42. East Grand Forks 8; 45. Watertown-Mayer 5; 46. St. Paul Highland Park 4; 46. Academy Of Holy Angels 4; 46. Proctor 4; 46. St. Paul Washington Technology Magnet 4; 50. Detroit Lakes 3.5; 50. Richfield 3.5; 52. Westonka 3; 52. Hermantown 3; 52. Eagle Ridge Academy 3; 55. Tri-City United 2; 55. Little Falls 2; 55. Northfield 2; 58. Hibbing 1; 58. Simley 1; 58. Minneapolis Edison 1; 58. Melrose Area 1; 62. Duluth Denfeld 0.5.